Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle fuel cell stack formed by stacking a plurality of power generation cells in a horizontal direction, and mounted in a vehicle.
Description of the Related Art
For example, a solid polymer electrolyte fuel cell employs a polymer ion exchange membrane as an electrolyte membrane, and the polymer electrolyte membrane is interposed between an anode and a cathode to form a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The membrane electrode assembly and a pair of separators sandwiching the membrane electrode assembly make up a power generation cell for generating electricity. In use, typically, a predetermined number of the power generation cells are stacked together to form a fuel cell stack, e.g., mounted in a fuel cell vehicle (fuel cell electric automobile, etc.).
In the in-vehicle fuel cell stack, it is required to protect the fuel cells suitably against external loads such as vibrations and impacts during traveling of the vehicle. For example, a fuel cell protecting structure at a front portion of an automobile disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-267063 is known. In the fuel cell protecting structure, a fuel cell is arranged in a space in front of a dash panel provided at the front end of a vehicle compartment, and a structural body is disposed on the front side of the fuel cell in the traveling direction of the vehicle.
When a load is applied to this structural body from the front side to the rear side of the vehicle, the structural body rotates substantially horizontally, and abuts against a strut tower outwardly in a vehicle width direction. According to the disclosure, in this structure, it is possible to prevent damage to the fuel cell.